Hawraarta Afkeenna The Speech of Our Language

Hawraarta Afkeenna

Hadalkii aan ujeeddiyo
Himilo toosan lahayn
Iyo hadaaq waa ku dilaa.
 
Hawraari waa murtideenna
Haddana waa gabaygeenna
Ama heesta cayaarta
Ama hawsha middeeda.
 
Heello iyo buraanbur
Hooriskeeda iyo jiibka
Higgaadda iyo luuqda
Haasaawihiyo ammaanta
Hanjabaaddiyo faanka
Halxidhaaliyo sheeko.
 
Waa hiraab iyo toosin
Waa afkii hiddaheenna
Amase hooyo iyo aabbe
Hantidii ummaddeenna
Habistii ubadkeenna.
 
Waa hoggaan dhaqameedka
Marna aan la hureyne,
Lagu soo hiranaayo.
 

The Speech of Our Language

Utterance without weight
Spoken with no emphasis
And all frivolous speech
Is the death of our language
 
Our speech is our heritage
The most intricate poetry
A song to make us dance
And a song to help us work
 
It's Heello and Buraanbur,
It's chorus and refrain
Syllables and music
Conversation and veneration
Threats and boasts
Riddles and tales
 
Stories and facts
Our speech is our heritage
Spoken by our ancestors
It's the wealth of our people
Our children's treasure-house
 
It's the lodestone of our culture
Utterly indispensible
The means of seeking assistance
 

The Spoken Word of Our Language

Expressions made without any significance,
Without direct aspirations,
And inconsequential talk is all lethal to you.
 
The spoken word is our cultural heritage;
At the same time it could be our gabay
Or it could be the dance song
Or it could be the one of work song.
 
It's Heello and Buraanbur,
It's the chorus and the simultaneous utterance
It's the syllabification and the intonation,
It's the conversation and the praise,
It's the threatening and the boasting
It's the puzzle and the storytelling.
 
It's a prose and making it straight
It's the language of our heritage and tradition
Or of our forefathers and foremothers
It's the treasury of our people
It's the supplying our kids with our language.
 
It's the guide of our culture
It's an indispensable
It's an act of seeking assistance.
 

Original Poem by

Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi

Translated by

Maxamed Xasan ‘Alto’ with Sarah Maguire Language

Somali

Country

Somalia/Somaliland